Daily Meditation

Scripture Readings Proverbs 10:17Isaiah 19–20Romans 13–14Psalms 35 Verse Focus (Proverbs 10:17) Whoever heeds discipline shows the way to life,     but whoever ignores correction leads others astray. Meditation Today’s proverb is one of those that can be interpreted in different ways, so your view of what God is saying to you will differ depending on the translation you read. When I read the proverb this morning, I was reading the New Revised Standard Version. Proverbs 10:17 said, “Whoever heeds instruction is on the path to life, but one who rejects a rebuke goes astray.” Straight-forward enough. I spent time meditating on rejecting…

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Scripture Readings Proverbs 10:12Isaiah 17–18Romans 11–12Psalms 34 Verse Focus (Proverbs 10:12) Hatred stirs up conflict,     but love covers over all wrongs. Meditation Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening! Or, good night, too, if you prefer. 🙂 Proverbs 10:12 says “Hatred stirs up conflict, but love covers over all wrongs.” This is not one of those more obscure proverbs that we have to puzzle over: the meaning is simple and easily grasped. I am reminded of I Corinthians 13:5 where we are told that love “keeps no record of wrongs.” As believers, we want our actions to be loving. The contrast…

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Scripture Readings Proverbs 10:11Isaiah 15–16Romans 9–10Psalms 33 Verse Focus (Proverbs 10:11) The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life,     but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence. Meditation The book of Proverbs pays a lot of attention to our speech. The power of words, for good or evil, is a recurrent theme. We see it at work in today’s proverb from chapter 10, verse 11: “The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.” In this proverb, we see the life-giving impact of the words of the godly as contrasted…

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Scripture Readings Proverbs 10:9Isaiah 13–14Romans 7–8Psalms 32 Verse Focus (Proverbs 10:9) Whoever walks in integrity walks securely,     but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out. Meditation Good morning, and welcome to February — or to your second month (should you have begun this plan on a date other than January first). 🙂 As believers, we want to be people of integrity. So, what does that mean? We’re so familiar with the word integrity that we sometimes struggle to define it. I had to laugh when I read The Urban Dictionary’s definition of integrity. They said, “Doing the right thing even…

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Scripture Readings Proverbs 10:8Isaiah 11–12Romans 5–6Psalms 31 Verse Focus (Proverbs 10:8) The wise in heart accept commands,     but a chattering fool comes to ruin. Meditation Hallelujah! Happy last day of the month! Pat yourself on the back for making it this far: this is an accomplishment worth rejoicing. It doesn’t matter if you missed days or readings; it doesn’t matter if you were less than “perfect” in your walk so far. What matters is that you are here, now, reading, and ready to meet with God. So, Hallelujah, Amen! Our verse focus today is Proverbs 10:8 which says, “The wise in…

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Scripture Readings Proverbs 10:4Isaiah 9–10Romans 3–4Psalms 30 Verse Focus (Proverbs 10:4) Lazy hands make for poverty,     but diligent hands bring wealth. Meditation Good morning! Or, good afternoon or evening. 🙂 I hope the day finds you well in body and spirit. Today’s proverb says, in the NRSV, “A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.” We’ve talked about laziness before as the sluggard is one type of fool that the book of Proverbs warns us about. Here, we have the contrast between poverty and wealth. Obviously, if we have a choice about it, we’ll choose wealth…

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Scripture Readings Proverbs 10:3Isaiah 7–8Romans 1–2Psalms 29 Verse Focus (Proverbs 10:3) The LORD does not let the righteous go hungry,     but he thwarts the craving of the wicked. Meditation Our verse focus today, Proverbs 10:3, says, “The LORD does not let the righteous go hungry, but he thwarts the craving of the wicked.” Food is one of our most basic needs, but the second half of the verse makes me think this Scripture is talking about more than food. What do the wicked crave? Power? Wealth? Violence? I’m so very grateful that the LORD thwarts the craving of the wicked! It…

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Scripture Readings Proverbs 9:12Isaiah 5–6Matthew 28JudePsalms 28 Verse Focus (Proverbs 9:12) If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you;     if you are a mocker, you alone will suffer. Meditation Our proverb today is perhaps a little more obscure, depending on what translation you read. There’s the NIV translation, “If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you; if you are a mocker, you alone will suffer.” However, the verse may also say something like, “If you are wise, you are wise for yourself; if you scoff, you alone will bear it (NRSV).” Some translations also interpret the mocking to be…

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Scripture Readings Proverbs 9:10Isaiah 3–4Matthew 27Psalms 27 Verse Focus (Proverbs 9:10) The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,     and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. Meditation Today’s proverb, Proverbs 9:10, is very similar to the proverb we studied at the beginning of the month. Proverbs 1:7 says, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Our proverb today says, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Okay. So let’s unpack this a bit. The fear of the LORD…

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Scripture Readings Proverbs 9:9Isaiah 1–2Matthew 26Psalms 26 Verse Focus (Proverbs 9:9) Instruct the wise and they will be wiser still;     teach the righteous and they will add to their learning. Meditation Hello, and welcome! It’s a new day, and we have another proverb to consider. Proverbs 9:9 says, “Instruct the wise and they will be wiser still; teach the righteous and they will add to their learning.” Here we learn that the wise always have the capacity to learn something new; further, the wise are inherently humble and do not assume that they know all the answers. We have the second…

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